Agency to Help Buy Ojai Valley Land

A state agency has decided to donate more than 75% of the cost of preserving a 2 1/2-square-mile swath of meadows and hills that is the biggest private land holding in the Ojai Valley.

While not unexpected, the $3.1-million contribution by the state Coastal Conservancy will make acquisition of the 100-year-old ranch property far easier for a local land trust that envisions it as a nature preserve. The conservancy, which plans to draw on funds from state conservation bonds, approved the donation at a Jan. 23 meeting.

“It’s very significant that the board approved this,” said Peter Brand, a Coastal Conservancy official responsible for the agency’s projects in Ventura County. “This property is crucial to the recovery of the southern steelhead trout in the Ventura River and perhaps in Southern California. It also will allow people to experience the beauty of land that looks like pre-development Ventura.”

The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy announced plans to purchase the property in October. Its deal with the owner, New York-based Intell Management and Investment Co., calls for the $4-million transaction to be completed by June 30.

That means the Ojai land trust must raise $630,000 on top of what it has already accumulated, which would prove to state officials that there is enough community support to pay for the property’s long-term maintenance in future fund-raising drives.

“They want to see that we can raise enough funds to take care of this property in perpetuity,” said Jim Engel, the trust’s executive director.

Fund-raising efforts include selling naming rights to major donors. A $25,000 gift will buy the donor’s name on a trailhead; $1.5 million will put it on the entire preserve.

Besides raising the additional funds, the trust must negotiate a conservation easement allowing Intell two home sites but barring further development on a 150-acre corner of the property.

The ranch straddles three miles of the Ventura River just north of California 150. Eventually, trails will meander through the property.